Society Peaked In the 90s

The brighter the colors, the bigger the smile—remember when fast food had mascots, Taco Bell had a talking chihuahua, and McDonald’s seats looked like fries? We dive into why the 90s felt alive and playful, and why today’s beige minimalism leaves so many of us craving the loud, weird energy of that decade. From TGIF and Blockbuster pizza nights to candy stores and sleepovers, we map the rituals that made Friday feel safe and special.

We also pull apart the media shift: local news that felt grounded vs the modern clickbait machine where corrections never catch up. That change reshaped how safe we feel, how we parent, and how we trust strangers. Along the way we revisit the toys and shows that stuck—Rugrats, Doug, Hey Arnold, Rocco’s Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy—and why sly, adult-wink humor aged better than most reboots. Our tour hits music too: 90s country with heart, alternative and ska you can dance to, and the eternal Backstreet vs NSYNC debate that still lights up group chats.

Technology was charmingly inconvenient—payphones, answering machines, floppy disks—and that friction gave daily life texture. Airports let you hug at the gate, diners had smoking sections, and you could disappear until the streetlights came on without anyone spiraling. We’re not stuck in the past; we’re borrowing what worked: color that invites play, rituals that bring people home, and media boundaries that protect our sanity. Hit play, share your favorite 90s memory, and tell us what you’d bring back first. If this episode sparks a grin, follow, rate, and pass it to a friend who still knows every TGIF theme song.

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Transcript

Mic Chaos And Cold Open

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Hello everyone and welcome to back. Welcome back. Welcome back. I don't think your microphone's on.

unknown 1:22

I think she shut me off.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

She shut me off. Oh my gosh. How did that work? She's trying to silence me. Oh my gosh. Well, hello, guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Hi, welcome to We Are Not the Same. That was intro.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

I'm like, where are you? Oh, I I literally said control that.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

So that's on you.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

I literally said nope. Fucking nope. Nope.

The 90s As Peak Culture

SPEAKER_03 1:45

Alright. So today. We thought we'd get a little nostalgic because times currently not fucking great.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

So we want to take it back to when things were great.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

When we peaked as a fucking species, as society. And everybody already knows, right? I mean, there might be a little bit of a debate, but like realistically, no, there's not. We absolutely fucking peaked as a society in the 90s. That's it. Like that was the best of times. And that's kind of sad.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

It was the best of times. Now it's the worst of times.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

It is the worst of times. Yeah. So then we got we were talking about it and we're like, oh my God, we should talk about all the things that made the 90s better. And like compare what we had then to what we have equivalently now. And first off, the very first thing that I instantly think of when I think of the 90s is how fucking bright and colorful everything was, right? Like we're coming out of the 80s. The 80s started, right, with the brightness kind of like towards the end of the 80s, and the 90s just like full on embraced it. We're like fucking color, pattern, mix, mash, everything. Does it go? No. Do we care? No. Like everything, you know what I mean? Like all the fucking time. And now everything is brown and beige and blue. Have you been to a fucking target recently? It is the most depressing shit. Why is it why is all the color gone?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Natural clean girl era.

Colorful Brands And Lost Mascots

SPEAKER_03 3:14

Yes, everything is so plain Jane. And why? Why? Not even just clothes. The fucking restaurants. McDonald's, Taco Bell. Think of it in the 90s. How bright, how colorful, how fun, the fucking mascots. Who still has a mascot? Even McDonald's doesn't use Ronald McDonald's unless it's for like the Ronald McDonald's house.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Oh, yeah. Okay, so McDonald's in the 90s, that was a thing.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

That was it. They did birthday parties. They've a fucking the hamburglar. Come on now.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Okay, McDonald's in the 90s.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

So bright, so colorful. And now McDonald's has also grown up to be a depressed middle-aged person. They, if you look at McDonald's, it is drab. It is gray. It is dark gray and light gray. And it is sad.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Look at back in the 90s.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Look at the chairs. The chairs were made of hamburgers and French fries and the what's what was the blue one. The purple one. What's it?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Oh my gosh, what is that?

SPEAKER_03 4:16

I have a doll of him. Oh my gosh, the purple guy.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Grimace. Grimace, yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

And all the hamburger. The fact that they even have something named Grimace. Think of what Grimace is. It's like, oh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah. Like.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

And then the fucking Taco Bell had the fucking Taco Bell dog. Yo quiero Taco Bell.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Oh my gosh, look at that.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

And nobody nobody would care that it was racist. I know.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

What was your favorite McDonald's toy?

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Um, I have absolutely no fucking clue because I don't remember that.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Um They had like a Barbie where you could like snap the dress on.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

That would have been fun. Do you w you know what else I remember from the 90s that I fucking loved? Polly fucking pocket.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Oh, I loved those. Oh my gosh, do you remember this? The smallest. Not the baby.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Not the baby.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Not the mama.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Oh, that's what it is. Not the mama. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

And the weird thing is.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Dinosaurs.

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Yep. Even the fucking world knows that the 90s was peak and that like it's super sad now. So everyone's trying to bring back all of the shit from the 90s. Like even McDonald's brought they did like the collaboration with the fucking dude with the four eyes. I don't know, but that's the grimace I have. I have the four eyes grimace. Oh, okay. Yeah. Like, but they're they brought it back, but they tweaked it, right? They uh like I'm pretty sure Disney Plus brought back dinosaurs. Like, not a new one, but like the old one. Like all the shit that you used to watch is coming full circle because like everybody knows that the 90s was peak. It was.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Such a simpler time.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

We could fucking leave the house and like nobody knew where you were. Some might debate that was a con, but for me, very pro. Very pro. You didn't have to come home until the street lights came on, like you felt safe, like the whole world wasn't. You didn't know that the half the world was stupid.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Yeah, I think uh social media and the widespread news just makes like it's just if anybody has like anxiety or feeling. Everybody has anxiety because they're watching stuff in the 90s.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

No, news programs were very, I feel much more localized for one.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

And much more of like heartfelt or stories, not necessarily like today there's 50 people murdered.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

It wasn't about sensationalism value. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Sensationalism.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

It was just about what the actual fucking news was.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Now it's a lot of not necessarily fabricated, but definitely stretched to make it sound better.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

It's like highly edited, it's it's manipulated. Um everyone's so worried about being. Because you're also trying to sell the story, right? And you want people to watch it, so it's all about clickbaiting you into watching things or and people want to be the first to report something, so they'll report on something without any proof or facts or whatever, and then they're like, Oh, I'll just print a retraction because statistically, only a quarter of the people who see the original story will see the correction. So now you have 75% of people who saw that that believe that that's true, and but they're not liable because they printed a retraction. That shit's crazy. The fact that I even know that shit is crazy. Like, because we live in a world don't consume media. It's yeah, like certain I mean like things back in the night, even shows, right? Now, shows everything has an agenda. Everybody's trying to push something. Like back then, they were literally just trying to like make it somewhat believable.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

What was your favorite 90s show?

Toys, Cartoons, And Clever Humor

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Um, like animated why, like kids' show, adult show, like where are we going? Are we talking TGI fucking F?

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot about that.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

TGI F. Right? Because like, and also how fucking wholesome that they did it on like a Friday evening to try to encourage kids to like stay home and be fucking safe, but they never openly like admitted that that's why they were doing it. But like you'd be like, let's get Blockbuster, let's get fucking pizza, let's watch TGIF and let's do slumber parties and all that stuff. People are scared to do slumber parties now because crazy fucking shit happens everywhere in the world.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 8:15

Like it, I I don't feel like you used to be able to let your kids go to the sleepover without even meeting the parents first. Um and now, like, you're like, I need a background check, I need to know your emergency clouds. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Ashley had her daughter was involved in, like, just at a friend's house that they knew were very close with and knew, and there was a drive-by shooting at their house, the friend's house when they were right outside and people that they knew. So you just like never known.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Crime is rampant, like, like there's always been crime, right? I'm not saying the like 90s was crime-free, but like we would drive around with like it was you felt safe then.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Yes, but now I think about it, I'm like, we were the problem. We were the trouble. We were the trouble back then.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

I wish it was us. We definitely got in way more trouble as teenagers than our children.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

We just didn't get in trouble.

unknown 9:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

But we did more things. I know I'm like, my kids would never even think about doing any of the things I did.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

No. But I would I mean, we were teenagers in the 2000s and the 90s. We were kids. We got super soakers. They were everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

We got favorite show, Rugrats and Doug.

SPEAKER_03 9:25

Those were like I yes, love that. So I I think I watched more of like Hey Arnold and Recess.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

I love Hey Arnold and Pepper Ann.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

I love Pepper Ann.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

I never watched that.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

Sorry. Like, no, I didn't watch that one. Really? I loved it. And I don't even know why I loved it. Probably because she was just fucking she was like an accident prone freak. So I related. I related real hard. She was unattractive. Like, yeah, we were the same. You are actually very attractive. Oh, that's that we're not here to have that debate. We're here to be nostalgic. Did you um did you ever watch Angry Beavers? Yes, I feel like I did.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

I don't really remember it, but I do.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

It was about twin, or they weren't twins, but brother beavers, and one was like there's always like one that's like responsible and like kind of put together, kind of smart, but like hard things happening. Happy beavers, yeah. Yes, and then the other one's kind of dumb and like causes most of their problems. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

And it was just dumb entertainment, right? There wasn't an agenda. The wild thorn berries. Yeah. As told by Ginger. Okay, so the wild thorn berries is awesome because the voice of the cat dog. I liked Courage the Cowardly Dog.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Rocco's Modern Life.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Love Rocco's Modern Life. Also, theme song B-52s. Not that you care, but that's important to me. No. I love the B-52s. I have, so you've seen my pop collection. It's slightly obnoxious, but not to the point where it's crazy. But also collections, collectors, big in the 90s. Think of beanie babies. You know what I mean? Right. So I'm I'm somewhat equivalent to that, but not that crazy. And I'm that crazy. I I have every pop that I have for the most part, I have for a reason. The ones that don't seem to fit or make sense is because they were gifts, because people don't realize I only want certain ones because I'm that weird. Um, but I have the Rockless Modern Life Pops because of course I fucking do, because it's amazing. I love it. That show was like like that and Rin and Stimpy. Yes. They both definitely did humor that they probably shouldn't have. Yes. And when you re-watch it now, you're like, holy fuck. You're like, wow. That was highly inappropriate. Yes. And then it was it was literally a show for kids by adults who really made it for themselves and hoped that the kids wouldn't get it, and of course we didn't. And then you watch it as an adult and you're like, oh damn.

unknown 12:06

You're like, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:07

But that's just funny. Like they were clever. They were. They were very clever. They were. Rugrats was definitely great.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Rugrats was, and I feel like that kind of like kept going too.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

Yeah, they even did a all grown up series. Did you watch that? Where it was for Rugrats when they were teenagers? No. I don't think that lasted very long, but obviously didn't No. I think it was like a season or two, but I watched it. It was weird. I was like, I don't know if I like this.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

No, you're supposed to be babies.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

You're supposed to be babies.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Um, favorite 90s music.

Safety, Slumber Parties, And News Then vs Now

SPEAKER_03 12:39

All of it. Oh my god. I still so I listen to a very eclectic array of music. My my main playlist is over 4,700 songs, and it's all over the board, right? But I would I believe that 90s is probably the biggest chunk of my playlist because like 90s country was fire. I don't really like current country. I pretty much only listen to country if it's like 90s, early 2000s country. Like that's it. It was fire. Fucking alternative was fire. They had so many good bands in the 90s that like I love alternative music. I still listen to all of it. Like, oh my god, Matchbox 20. Come on. Oh my gosh, I love Match Matchworth.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Definitely loved and think.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

So I recently realized me. I realized recently, I think I'm Team Backstreet Boy. Okay, that's why we do nothing. It's fine. I had I I added both of their first albums or their most popular albums onto my playlist. And then I, as I listened to them, if I don't like the song, I just remove it because it's so much easier. And I definitely removed more N-Sync songs than I removed Backstreet Boy songs. And I was like, am I team back? I never thought about it before because I that was not my genre, right? Like those were songs that like I liked or whatever, but it wasn't my main focus of music, so I didn't really pay that much attention. And I was like, apparently I think I'm Team Backstreet.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

You are sorry, interesting. I'm fitting. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

Um, No Doubt. Yeah, I still listen to No Doubt. And Real Big Fish. Do you remember? I love Real Big Fish. They're kind of sky. Do you remember? Okay, the movie Clueless.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

We were we were sharing as the whitest Dion that's ever existed on the point. We should have definitely not done Dion. Like, we definitely should have had me be the other one. And maybe Dion. Oh the redhead. Why did we do that? Why did we do that? Because we were racist. And we were like, this is a crazy. It's because we wanted to do the matching plaid outfits. That is the reason why. 100%. No other reason, no other thought went into it. We're like, those outfits are cute. We wanna look cute on Halloween. I know you do. I I do not think I could fit in that.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

I don't know. My legs would not. I think my ass would definitely hang out.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Your one leg is the size of your old two legs.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Because how big your girl is. It's true. Look at it.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Both your legs combined used to be that size.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

And there's no stopping, and we're still growing.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

But even, oh god, 90s movies were so good. What was the best movie of the 90s? Oh, um, Tamagotchis. Do you remember Tamagotchis? Yes, I heard them and I love them. They're trying to bring those back.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

They have had them back, I feel like, for a minute. They're just so as we need to rebrand them because they bring back the old ones.

SPEAKER_03 15:40

For people who have listened to our podcast for a while, it's they'll know that like I suck at taking care of myself and structure and all the things. And so the thing that's super funny is there's a lot of apps nowadays to try to help people specifically with ADHD and odd HD because odd HD makes it more complicated because they have autism and ADHD, and they like are fighting fucking they fight each other all the time, so it makes things hard. Um, but there's this one called Finch, and I've downloaded it twice and have not actively used it. Um, but their like slogan to try to get millennials to do it, and they're like, it's like having a Tamagotchi, but the Tamagotchi is you. So like that's their selling feature. So like, if you could take care of a Tamagotchi, you could take care of yourself. And in my brain, I'm like, they all died. Like, I don't know if I can do it.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

That's why you won't use it. You're like, I really want to kill myself.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

I don't know if I can do it.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

I am not committed to taking care of myself.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

Or I want to be, I buy all the things. I'm just not capable of using them.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

It's just where you need somebody.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

Oh uh, Sabrina, the teenage witch.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Clarissa explains it all.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

That was like my favorite. Which one? Clarissa explains it all.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

I mine too. But also now thinking about it, like, why was he always climbing through her window? And the parents like knew and didn't really like they knew and they didn't, but yeah. Mike, that's just so weird. I when I called it door.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Why are we climbing through windows?

SPEAKER_03 17:10

When I lived on Harvard with my mom, I lived in the basement, but it was like a half underground basement, so like my window went straight to the ground level, and uh my friend Dustin would climb in and out of my window all the fucking time. And my mom liked him. Like she wouldn't have cared, but that's just he would get drunk and wouldn't want to go home, and so he'd come and he'd knock on my window and I'd let him in and he'd spend the night and then he'd sneak out of the window and go home in the morning. We did it all the fucking time. It was a safe place.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

I never had anyone's day over. I was on the second floor too, though.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Yeah, we live very different lives.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Very different lives.

SPEAKER_03 17:45

And we realized on I don't know when the episode aired, but we realized that when you go to sleep, I then live a whole nother day.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

You do. You do.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

So I live two days. You're one day.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

I know. We do.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

It happens, not all the time, but it definitely happens. I have this uh list of things that were specific to the 90s. Did you ever have an American girl doll? No. Me either. Oh, TRL.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Oh, I loved it.

90s TV Blocks And Teen Memories

SPEAKER_03 18:25

Back when it was actually called Total Request Live. I don't know if how many people even remember that that's what it actually started as, and it just got shortened to TRL because Total Request Live is a lot to fucking say every day. Tom Green, the bum song.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

I uh yes, very much remember that. Tom Green was like a whole moment in time.

SPEAKER_03 18:47

He was a whole he fucking married Drew Barrymore. Like that. Which is so wild. He did get no, absolutely not. No, they weren't married for very long. Um, I always joked about like if there were ever to be like a movie about my life that Tom Green would play Carrie.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Why do I see that?

SPEAKER_03 19:06

I know, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:08

For so many reasons.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

It totally works. I've been saying it for years, and I know I've been saying it for years because it literally popped up on my Facebook memories. It's true. It's like nine years ago. You said it's true. Like I still I stand by it. I still feel like it's a valuable choice.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Going in for the energy drink. Are you? I'm still on coffee. I need the hard stuff. I keep going.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

Okay, let's see. Oh, the like the candy back then. Like, I mean, I'm sure they still have some of it, but like the candy cigarettes, did was that a phase that you went through?

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Yes, and I think everyone, I pretended to smoke, like it felt so cool. Yes, and like what were adults thinking watching us pretend to smoke and just being like, yep, I'm gonna keep buying those for you. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

We would walk down to the penny candy store off of Sherman, which is now a bar, because again, all the good things from the fucking 90s just turned into sad middle-aged shit.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Is that the beacon? Yes, it's the beach. Oh my god, that's how old and I remember it's a good one.

SPEAKER_03 20:21

That used to be the penny candy store. I had my very first real date at the penny candy store. It was part of it. He took me to Zipps and the no Hudson's. He took me to Hudson's and then to the penny candy store, and then we went and had a GUI and we walked the boardwalk, and I was 14, and he was technically my very first boyfriend when I was two and a half, and he was five, because I've always liked an older man. But he was then like it's because he lived uh his grandma lived behind my dad across the alley, so we would play as kids and stuff, and so we joked that like he was my first kiss and everything, and then he was my first real date when I was 14. So it was kind of cute. And then ironically, um, I have no idea. What's his name? DC, and then not thinking about it, guess what? My oldest child's initials are DC. Deegan Chris, DC. That was not on purpose. In fact, my dad's the one who pointed it out to me, and he's like, Did you realize that? And I was like, Not at all. Nope. He's named after Brian Deegan from Metal Militia, and then uh Carrie's dad's middle name. So it just worked out that way, but it was pretty funny. But yeah, so I have a very like that's a cute fucking memory that I have because I don't have a lot of good. I don't have a lot of things. Isn't that cute? Yes, yeah. So my first boyfriend was my first date, and uh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Oh, that's cute.

SPEAKER_03 21:38

And now it's a bar. As is everything on Sherman, as is everything, yeah. It's weird, like how different the scenery is. Like everything's different. It's weird. I don't know. Why are you still yawning? You had coffee and an energy drink.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

I didn't finish the coffee yawning. And I didn't get my like eight hours of sleep last night. I got like seven and a half. I'm just kidding. I did not get seven and a half. I did not. Um anyways, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

I'm do you ever think that though? Like when you're driving around, do you like picture what it used to look like? Yes. I do that a lot. I also, God, what was that? No, it had the freaking squirrel. What was it called?

SPEAKER_00 22:22

It had the squirrel?

SPEAKER_03 22:23

It was it's now like a fucking construction place, but it has like the nut something. The nut sort of thing. Oh the nut. Yeah, now it's that, yeah, the it's the nut factory. The nut factory, yes. Yeah, I'm not crazy. Yeah. No, the nut factory.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

I'm like, there's a squirrel or you squirrel brain. Like, is it squirrel or squirrel?

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Like but I remember like um my dad would go there and he'd let me pick out like a bag of snacks or something, and then I'd go to school. I was known as like the gummy bear girl for like ever because I would always get a bag of gummy bears from there and then bring it to school, bring it to high school, like my gummy bears. And then now I'm like, now it's a fucking construction thing. It's sad.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

It is. It's sad. Yes, the 90s, they were great. Um, also, you could do a lot of things in the 90s that you cannot do anymore. Say, do, all that kind of stuff.

Music Wars: Boy Bands To Ska

SPEAKER_03 23:15

Yeah, like a freedom of speech really existed in the 90s. Not so much now. Now you have to be politically correct because everybody's offended about everything, which is just exhausting. And I don't understand why people don't realize that, like, you are a hundred percent allowed to be offended, and I at 100% do not have to give a shit that you're offended. Why doesn't anybody realize that? I'm giving um were you a gamer when you were a kid?

SPEAKER_00 23:48

I played lots of video games in the 90s. I did, but not like to the extent that you probably did. Probably.

SPEAKER_03 23:55

Did you have a system?

SPEAKER_00 23:57

My brother did. What system? All of them.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

All of them. So, like again, we were poor. So we had we had a Sega Genesis, and I'm a good one. We did not have a Sega, that was the only thing that we didn't have. It was the only one that we had, and I love that thing. I played the shit out of Sonic all the time, and then there's this weird game where the guy was like a surfer. I don't know. I always forget it about it and then remember it and then look it up later.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Um, okay, so I have a list of things that you could only do in the 90s. Okay. Like what? Payphones.

SPEAKER_03 24:29

Yeah, I mean make phone calls, public payphone booths using coins. One of my favorite TV commercials ever is a 1-800 collect commercial, and it's when the guy's in the hospital and he's like calls his collect. One he calls his dad 1-800 collect, and they're like, Can I have the name? And he goes, Yeah, it's it's Bob at a baby, it's a boy. And so the collector's like, the 1-800 collect is like, you do you want to accept Bob at a baby it's a boy? And the dad's like, wrong number, and hangs up, and the wife is like, Who was that, dear? And the dad's like, it was Bob. They had a baby, it's a boy. Like, I don't know why I love that fucking commercial, but it's so funny. I remember that commercial job of explaining it, but it's so funny when you watch the actual commercial.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

I remember that commercial is bringing it back. Okay, also another one, answering machines. Like actual answering machines. Not voicemail. Yeah, like when the would you did your family ever get around and like record it together?

SPEAKER_03 25:26

I don't know.

unknown 25:27

We didn't.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

I don't even think we had one, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Yeah, the tape. Oh my gosh, the tape. I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

And you had to like flip the tape over, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Like go over the top of it. Yeah. That was wild. Um use the yellow pages. Oh my god. I remember looking up things like to call Skate Plaza before, the movie theater, which is now the church.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

Even the yellow page.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

The church is taking over Queerleen.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

I know, because they bought the movie theater and now they bought the skate place. There's no there's nowhere to hack. Jesus. Stop it.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

It's coming for you.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

And again, we have nothing against people. No, not at all. I'm just making it. It's just funny because it's everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Yes, the billboards change drastically from Washington to Idaho, and the message gets very different. Oh, and it's just so much.

SPEAKER_03 26:22

We live in different states and it shows.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Is all we're saying. Okay, we're not on one side or the other. It's just funny. It's funny.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

But a weird thing now, though, like yellow pages and white pages, it's now online. Well, yeah, when you're so like it still exists, but it doesn't. You know what I mean? Because it's it's you just look it up, it's Google. But it's no, it's a website and they want to make you pay. Remember, no one would need to charge you a dollar twenty nine to fit it.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Do you remember floppy disks? Yes. That's a thing.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

Yeah, and people, kids today, like they don't know, right? Like they think it's a save icon, and it's like, I mean, it is, but it's a floppy disk, and they're like, what's a floppy disk? Same with like um when they call it a hashtag and we call it a pound sign, and they're like, they don't know what a pound sign is. Yes. We're like, really? Like that's the weird thing about our generation is we are between Yes. We are we have pre-internet and post-internet experiences, like no other, right? Because we grew up with it, we learned it, we watched it happen, and like the younger generations don't know life without it, and the older generations, though better, a lot of them are still like, this is super unnecessary, which let's be real, a lot of it is. A lot of it, it is made us lazy as fuck. Which is why in the 90s people weren't as you know overweight as we are now. No, this is true, because convenience wasn't as big of a thing. You had to actually go and get your groceries, you couldn't get stuff delivered to the extent that you can now.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

The exactly um, this is another one traveling to see people at the airports, going to the gate to meet people.

Candy Stores, Small Town Landmarks, And Change

SPEAKER_03 27:53

Oh, yeah. You used to be able to go literally all the way. You could watch the plane leave. Yes. Because I remember my my oldest sister, she has a different dad. Her dad lived in Texas. She would go every summer and we would go and watch her leave, and we would wait for her to get off the plane and walk out of the airport with her. I remember with my grandfather. I almost said when did that change? And then I was like, probably 2001. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Only in the 90s.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Probably. Probably that's when that changed.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

I remember my grandpa, my parents would go to Vegas or whatever, and we were at the airport. Mind you, this is Spokane Airport, like back in the 90s, and he would go to the smoking lounge, and we'd be there like three hours early. And now I think about it like the plane is not gonna get in early. Why were we waiting there for so long?

SPEAKER_03 28:36

And if it was Vegas, they probably hadn't even left yet.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

No, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

You had the airport to pick them up before they're even on the plane.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

And we would just hang out in the airport, and there that wasn't a lot of people. It's not even a big airport. It's a tiny little airport. That's how long ago it was. There was a smoker's lounge inside.

SPEAKER_03 28:50

Yeah, there's very few airports that still offer um a smoker's area. The 90s, you could smoke anywhere you wanted. There used to be literally smoking sections. Smoking section in the exact same restaurant. Like table to table in the street. I would we would always go to like Sherry's or Denny's, like, because they were open 24 hours, right? So we'd party and then we'd go to Sherry or Denny's, and then we'd always sit in the smoking section. And like, it's yeah, it's weird to think about. Now, for the most part, again, though, difference between Washington and Idaho. Like Idaho, there are certain you can legally smoke inside of an establishment if the establishment allows it. So, like, there are bars in Idaho that you can still smoke inside of.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Or right outside the door, or right outside their patio, which is basically inside.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

Yeah, but Washington, you have to be 25 feet from any entrance to be able to smoke. Smokers is the one group that this is off topic, but smokers is like the one group that everyone agrees it's allowed to discriminate against. It's kind of weird. Well, because it's not good for you. I say that as a non-smoker now, but I used to smoke and like I felt the discrimination, let me tell you. I feel like it But in the 90s, you can't even have to. Did you know that like they can't even have um commercials for cigarettes anymore? They're not allowed. That's how come it's so embedded in movies and television now because that's the only way they can promote it. Do you remember? Back in the day, they had all of the Marlboro man commercials.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Do you remember the camel cigarettes that were like Fruit Loops? That were like Fruit Loops. Yes, they came in the little tins and they marketed them like, oh okay. So my friend Teresa was like 18 and shit. Okay. Definitely marketed them to kids. Let me see if I can find a picture of them.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

Yeah, so like when I I started smoking when I was 14, and there was a period of life where I thought I was super cool because I would smoke camel-wide unfiltered because apparently I just really wanted to die really soon. And uh they were gross and you'd get tobacco in your mouth, and there was nothing great about it, but for some reason I thought it made me cool. So I'm really glad when I stopped smoking. Oh, I kind of remember I never smoked them. I was a camel girl when I first started smoking, and then I became a marble girl somewhere along the line, and I never switched back. Or to any other brand after that.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Beach breeze, twist the lime. What is all the flavors?

SPEAKER_03 31:14

There's like That's so weird. But that's if you think about it, the equivalent to that now is like the vapes and shit. So it's like the same thing old. And they were in a tin pack.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

So they were just like, okay, what was oh creamy camel crema.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

I used to fucking smoke black and mild.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Beach breezer. Sultry, smooth, and swinging.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

That does sound very uh doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 31:42

Yeah so funny.

SPEAKER_03 31:43

Oh yeah, the beach. Yeah, look at it. See, look. It literally is marketing to people like it used to be considered the cool thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

So weird.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

Everybody smoked in the 90s. Oh, look at these ones.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Camel Kawai Kalada. I don't even know what the fuck that means. It's a flavor. That's so wild. Look at all these. Camel Pleasure to Burn. You wouldn't know it's really that. That was the slogan, pleasure to burn.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

This is on the the 40 things only 90 kids will remember list, and it says learning about oral sex from the Bill Clinton affair.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Okay, that's funny. But why is that fact?

SPEAKER_03 32:28

That is facts because I didn't know what the because in the 90s, I was born in 86. Same. Right? So, like in the 90s, I was young young from yeah, that's fucking funny. That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

That is funny.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

Rocking handlebar streamers on your bike. Nobody would do that now. No. God, do you remember jelly shoes? They were trying to bring those back. Those are dangerous as fuck. My sister lost part of her toe because of jelly shoes in a bike.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Which sister?

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Uh uh the oldest.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Non-fun one. The non fun one. I'm like, oh boy. Wait, hold on. Which one? Okay, just the unfun one. That's what you get. That's funny. Where her fun ended.

Freedom To Smoke, Airports, And Pre-9/11 Life

SPEAKER_03 33:19

Um, were you a big Say by the Bell fan? Um, yes, but not like obsessed. Do you remember the show that preceded Save by the Bell? Where Miss Bliss was the teacher?

SPEAKER_00 33:34

No.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Let me see if I can find it again. Miss Bliss. It was called Good Morning Miss Bliss. It only had one season, and it's what Say by the Bell, like it's what created it.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Hold on, I got a photo so I can show you.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

So it had Lisa. Oh no, I've never seen that. And Zach, but then there's these two people who obviously didn't move to Say by the Bell.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Never seen that.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

Really? And then they did Save by the Bell, the college years. They should have stopped. Well, honestly, and even watching Say by the Bell, if you watched it now, like it's such a it's not a great show. Some things just you're like, it's funny to be like, why did I love this so fucking much?

SPEAKER_00 34:28

And now you're like, hmm.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

I don't know why. I really don't know why.

SPEAKER_00 34:33

Okay, I gotta go back to find the other.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

Sorry, we're looking at our phone stuff.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

I'm like, I'm trying. Actually, and I was well, and actually, I was just gonna go. I had some questions. I had some fun questions. I thought we could uh do those to finish our 90s.

SPEAKER_03 34:54

Did you ever get into the Wonder Years? I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

No, I did not.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

That was not one that I didn't watch a lot of the the Disney stuff, to be honest. Because I'm like, I'm looking at this and they had like Lizzie McGuire and I was like, No, no, I didn't watch Stevens. I wasn't a Disney kid. I was more like than Nick. Like movies, sure, but like shows definitely. I loved all that. That was true. Hey, dude. Yes. Yes. And uh salute your shorts. I actually had a shirt that was a camp on a wana shirt, and it's in my nerd blanket when I took a bunch of my nerd shit uh shirts and made them into a blanket. Oh. Yeah. I didn't want to get rid of them, but I needed room in my closet. But I need to get rid of I need to get rid of clothes. I am a hoarder of clothing. Um Furbies. Furbies were scary, I think. I think Furbies are still scary. Because that's another thing that I'm pretty sure that they tried to bring back.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Yes, uh, my daughter has one. Both of my daughters have one. Lily Do they freak you out? No, Lily didn't like her. She like turned it upside down and put it in a drawer. Because it's creepy. She's like, I don't want any part of that. So let's do some questions. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

Um I still love that show. That's a show from the 90s that you can watch now, and it's still like, I mean, it's cheesy, but like for what it is, it was a good fucking show and it was a good concept. They should re-bring that. They try to bring it back, but they did it as like a movie instead of like following the same concept, and it was not good. I wish they would have just redone the like concept with new people and new stories, and that would have been fantastic. Did you know that? Where is it? I think it's Poland. In Poland, they don't call millennials millennials, they call them the DuckTales generation. And I would rather be known as that. When we were in Denver, we watched Tailspin almost every day. Me and the boys.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

I like that. I haven't seen that in forever.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

My kids prefer stuff from my childhood than from their childhood, which I love.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

Okay. Ready for some questions? Yes, I was trying to stall so you could find them. I got them. I got them. Okay, because we're gonna wrap it up for today. We'll finish on some little questions. You know how I like to do that. And also let us know what your favorite 90s is. Like your favorite 90s, what was your like go-to? Your thing. Your thing. What do you still wish that you could bring back? Or what do you wish you could bring back?

SPEAKER_03 37:34

Do you remember Skippets?

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Oh, yeah, I got one for Kinsley.

SPEAKER_03 37:37

They brought that back to you. See, they're f they know. Society knows that the 90s was it, and we're never gonna get any better than that. And they're like, bring it back, bring it all back. I support that decision. Let's bring back the 90s.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Alright, if I became internet famous overnight, what would I probably go viral for?

SPEAKER_03 38:02

I'm gonna say the Johnny Bravo story because, like, with the Netflix thing, like that people love true crime in any regard. It doesn't always have to be murder related, just any type of true crime. And it's such like just a crazy bizarre story that I think that if more people knew about it, like you know what I mean? Yeah. And then it would branch out into all of the other things. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Okay. Yeah. Alright, so for you.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Oh God. I like being a background person. I would hate to become famous.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

It would be because I put us in a reel.

SPEAKER_03 38:39

There you go. That's fair. It would never be something that I posted on my own. That's very real.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Or it would be like your face reacting to something, me taking a snippet of you reacting to something. Like there, I have this video of you taking a drink of that ghost and the way your face is, and you're like, oh my god, this is like something like that.

Tech Artifacts: Payphones, Floppies, Yellow Pages

SPEAKER_03 38:58

No, that's so real because I don't know if you remember Crash Out, and if I'll explain who that is after, because I'm not gonna do that on here. But after, okay. Me and him had a bet once because anytime I drink plain water, that's not like ice cold. Like I make a face because I think it's disgusting, and I make a face when I drink water. And me and him had a bet once when we were playing darts that if I won, he had to wear a male romper. If he won, I would have to get a t-shirt that had a picture of my face that I make when I drink water, and I'd have to wear that. I won. He never wore the romper, so he still owes me. But it's just funny because yet, like that's how much of a face I make.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

That's what it is. Okay, so that was that was a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 39:43

I can just sell shirts with my face woman.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

Just with your face and be like, speaks for itself. That's funny.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

And on that note, until next time, guys.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

Bye, besties. And yes, like, subscribe, send us some fan mail. Tell us your 90s.

SPEAKER_03 39:59

Give us topics. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

Also, tell us what you would go viral for. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

Give us some or if you have, what did you go viral for?

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Give us tell us your tea. We like all the information.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

Oh my god, I love it when people share stories. Yes, tell us. There's no such thing as too much information. You can give us anything and we'll read it on air. That little fan mail button, it goes directly to us.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

You can leave your number or not. We don't answer you. We don't have to.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

Yeah, it's it okay, but do know that it does not allow us to respond.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

There's no like we would have to do it from our phones, and we're not doing that. Like it shows your number.

SPEAKER_02 40:36

We could have to text them.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Yeah, if they put, but we're not doing that. But we do read them, we get them. And it's sometimes we do read them. We do read them. Yes. We get them, we read them, we want more. Okay. Till next time.